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MSI R9 270X Hawk Review

MSI R9 270X Testing:

Far Cry 3 is the latest iteration in the Far Cry series. Released in the US in early December 2012, it uses the Dunia 2 game engine and is published and developed by Ubisoft. This action-adventure, first-person shooter offers both single player and multi-player modes.

Settings

2x MSAA

HBAO

In-game settings = High

At 1920x1080, the MSI R9 270X Hawk is within 4 FPS of the GTX 760. At 5760x1080, the margin shrinks to less than a single FPS. Both results are much better than those of the HD 7870 and GTX 660. So far, even with the latest beta driver package and hardware, this game still has a series of anomalies that are more annoying than anything else. The test sequence I run features the protagonist running along a dirt road, and from square one you have shadows that can best be described as dust balls bouncing along the ground where shadows should be. This does not impact performance, but is more noticeable at 5760x1080 than at 1920x1080. More than anything else, it takes away from the visual impact this game is known for.

FCAT Results:

The percentile charts do not show anything out of the ordinary when you look at the comparison cards; the performance curve is pretty much flat. Looking at the frame time charts, the majority of the comparison field, including the MSI R9 270X Hawk, are in the 15 to 20ms range that offers smooth gameplay. At 5760x1080, you can see this scale up into the 40 to 50ms range that is going to deliver gameplay that chugs along, offering less than optimal FPS and gameplay – something you can expect with cards delivering less than 30 FPS in this game.